Alex Spillius is The Daily Telegraph's Washington Correspondent.

Did Barack Obama give Hillary Clinton the finger?

At a campaign event in North Carolina on April 17, the day after his worst debate so far in Philadelphia, Barack Obama scratched his cheek with the middle finger of his right hand, while discussing Hillary Clinton's same old Washington politics.

There is certainly no love lost between the Democratic hopefuls

Was this a discreet and ungentlemanly gesture? Judge for yourself. The crowd seemed to think so and loved it. My verdict is yes but with very plausible deniability. If only he'd done it straight into the camera, then we would have had a real 'fingergate' to follow 'bittergate' and 'pastorgate'.